1976 Pontiac Trans Am Clutch Pedal - Bearing Down For Action

Once the lower linkage was removed, we used the needle-nose pliers to remove the small clip that fastens the upper linkage to the countershaft. For reference, we are working directly under the master cylinder. It can be a tight fit without much room to work if you have large hands.

Comparing the new pieces to old, we adjusted the former's length for proper installation. We simply loosened the retaining nut and turned the bearing until we achieved the correct length, then locked them into place.

We started the reassembly by pushing the upper linkage through firewall from inside the car and fastened it to both the pedal and countershaft. We felt safer adding a small amount of liquid thread-lock on the threads to prevent any possible chance of the bolt working loose.

After the installation of the lower linkage, the project was nearly complete. We adjusted the length of its pushrod end to provide a sufficient amount of pedal free-play and inserted it into the clutch fork. We also thoroughly greased the countershaft through its fitting before letting the car down.

This may first look like any other Second-Generation Trans Am with a manual transmission. But if you were to sit in the driver seat and depress the clutch pedal, you would quickly feel something uncommon-silky smooth action along with a noticeable reduction of pedal effort. With an investment of about one hour and $75, we found a new way to make our manual-transmission-equipped Firebird even more enjoyable to drive. Now who would complain about that?